In which issues concerning the profession of philosophy are bitched griped about

Friday, April 24, 2009

Grading Hell

So, this one time, I'm grading some exams. They're terrible. I'm thinking, "Oh my god. These are awful. This means I am a terrible teacher. I have made these exams far too difficult for these students. They cannot grasp this material. I'm going to give out all Fs for this class. I am doomed."

This other time, I'm grading some other exams. They're terrific. I'm thinking, "Oh my god. These are exactly what I am looking for. This means I am a terrible teacher. I have made these exams far too easy for these students. They are acing this material. I'm going to give out all As for this class. I am doomed."

This week I finished grading for my three sections of intro applied ethics. 45 students (approx) per class and typed comments for each, thank you very much. Worked round the clock all last weekend and all last week until the wee hours of the morning. Student dropped in from my upper div. course to inform me that she was going to send me a paper over the weekend at some point so I could give her comments by Monday. When I told her that I was going to be out of town this weekend, she erupts, "But the paper is due next week!" Yeah, but it had been assigned months ago, I said on the syllabus that I'd only talk with them about papers in person, she hadn't read any of the articles related to the paper, and she attends about half the classes. I fucking hate these kids and can't wait for a less than 4-4 job.

Anon 9:47,"I fucking hate these kids and can't wait for a less than 4-4 job."

People who hate students should not be placed in a position of being responsible for their educations. Students like the one you described exist at all universities including R-1s. Seriously, you should leave the profession and let someone with a better chance of being a successful educator take your place.

"People who hate students should not be placed in a position of being responsible for their educations. Students like the one you described exist at all universities including R-1s. Seriously, you should leave the profession and let someone with a better chance of being a successful educator take your place."

I'm pretty sure I can hate these particular kids and be a good educator. For example, I hate some particular kids and still convince more of these kids to be majors than the other people I work with, I get higher teaching evals than the people I work with, I get teaching awards, etc... I can also hate these kids and hate pretty much no other kids I come into contact with.

Sorry, if you can't hate kids who yell at you because they are entitled little slackers who don't know better than to yell at their teachers for not dropping everything to meet their unreasonable demands who can you hate?

I'm also going to stand up for 9:47 here. You can love your "kids", love your job, and still suck at it. And you can hate the "entitled" kids, maybe even hate teaching, and still do a great job at it because you're committed to doing a great job at whatever you do. Frankly, one of the most important things we can do in our teaching is to maintain high standards, and the more you do that, the more flak you will take -- i.e., the less you will probably enjoy your job. Anon 9:47 devoted a ton of time to his grading, probably went well above and beyond for typing up comments for each student, and probably received zero appreciation for it. Why shouldn't he vent a little after dealing with the spoiled, entitled-feeling person he refers to?

Hurray, someone with the guts and temerity to admit that they hate these kids. And I concur: I can hate them but still kick ass in the classroom and when interacting with them. That just means I don't like their entitled, lazy-assed attitudes. It doesn't mean I cannot inspire or teach well.